Project
From Builder-Grade to Boutique: My Bathroom’s AI Glow-Up (Personal Project)
Role
AI Prompt Engineer
Creative Director
Tools
ChatGPT (prompt engineering)
DALL·E (visuals)
Canva (layout)
Timeline
2025
Overview
A builder-grade bathroom gets a high-end transformation using AI tools and creative vision. This prompt-to-visual project explores how technology can unlock personalized design inspiration for real spaces.
My Role
Led the creative direction, moodboarding, and AI prompt development to reimagine my personal master bathroom into a high-end, boutique-inspired space.
Design Goals
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Elevate the space to feel like a boutique hotel suite
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Keep the existing layout while modernizing the finishes
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Add personality with luxe lighting, tile, and moody cabinetry
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Showcase how AI tools can help visualize personal renovations
Prompt Version:
Prompt v1
You are an expert interior designer, think HGTV’s Rock the Block. Take the attached photo of my builder-grade bathroom vanity, and let’s create a high-end, boutique hotel luxe look. Keep the structure of the cabinets the same, but let’s paint the cabinets Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze and let’s update the cabinet hardware to modern, high-end, champagne bronze pulls with backplates on the cabinet doors and drawers. Keep the countertop Sparkling White Quartz. Update the two mirrors to arched, back lit LED mirrors, remove lighting over the mirrors and add a polished nickle two light vanity globe sconce mounted vertically, centering the light between the two mirrors. There are tall ceilings on the wall above the bathroom vanity, so run marble subway tile, vertically stacked up to the ceiling. Make the faucets modern and champagne bronze to match the cabinet hardware. Add a stunning faux plant to the center of the countertop, underneath the sconce. Make the floors a large diamond shaped marble black and white tile.
AI Image Output
Notes
“The overall mood was a good starting point, but a few details didn’t align with my vision. The arched mirrors had black frames, which felt too harsh for the look I was going for. The sconce didn’t match the high-end style I had in mind, and the cabinet color didn’t reflect the richness I wanted. The floor pattern wasn’t correct, the cabinet hardware wasn’t consistent, and the wall tile felt off — I needed a vertically stacked, glossy white look for a more elevated feel.”
Prompt Version:
Prompt v2
Update the mirrors to have no black frames, and to be back lit only. Update all of the cabinet hardware to be the same champagne bronze. Update the floors to be gray and white marble and place in a diamond-shaped like the imaged attached. Update the center sconce to match the image attached. Update the tile to glossy organic white with variations and vertically stack the tile. Update the cabinet paint color to Ripe Olive by Sherwin Williams. Keep the rest of the bathroom the same.
AI Image Output
Notes
“Just a few more tweaks. The floor diamond pattern needs to be uniformed. I want a light fixture closer to the one I previously attached. The backplates need removing from the hardware. Update the plant/vase to something more elegant.”
Prompt Version:
Prompt v3
Fix the diamond-shaped pattern on the floors (like attached) and make the tile size larger. Update the plant to be white hydrangeas in a glass vase like the photo attached. Remove the backplates from the cabinet hardware on the doors. Update the sconce lighting to look closer to the high-end luxe one in the photo attached. Update the mirrors to be backlit only like the one attached.
AI Image Output
Notes
“It’s perfect. I love it!”
What I Learned
One of the biggest takeaways from this project was realizing that AI doesn’t always get it right on the first try, and that’s okay. I learned how important it is to treat prompting as an iterative design process. With each version, I refined the details: changing materials, adjusting lighting, swapping finishes, and clarifying the vision. The more I tweaked and guided the AI, the closer it got to capturing exactly what I had in mind.
Just like in traditional design, clear direction and small adjustments lead to the best outcomes. Prompt engineering taught me how to communicate creatively and precisely, and how to collaborate with AI as a powerful design tool rather than expecting perfection from the start.
